The most brutally honest and intense musicians are capable of thinking out loud.From the cold-hearted ramblings of Hank Williams, Sr. to the rabid fits of Black Flag; from the anxious drone of the Stooges to the muffled resignation of Nick Drake, each of these artists has created songs with much more at stake than simply crafting postured and poised works of art. They expose their minds without any concern for the vulnerability of their thoughts.
Scott Kelly proves to be among that rare breed on his solo debut, Spirit Bound Flesh. As guitarist/vocalist and founding member of the Bay Area's legendary sensory-overload outfit, Neurosis, Kelly has spent over 15 years exploring the possibilities of sonic catharsis. Setting out to record his first solo album, Kelly intended to make a record close to the raw nerve tinge of classic country music, but the result is even more intense. Similar to the way that John Cale turned open space into a wall of sound on Nico's solo outings, and Cat Stevens drained his synapses into murky acoustic drones, Kelly pulls listeners into his mind by placing the focus upon the strength of the human voice as a musical instrument. His voice murmurs, soars and whispers as if it were a bowed cello, making his unflinchingly personal lyrics slowly reveal themselves upon repeated listens.
Aiming to explore the possibilities of his own voice, Kelly found acoustic guitar to be its natural companion. At times on Spirit Bound Flesh, it may be difficult to distinguish between the two instruments as Kelly's mantra-like vocals tug at the open-ringing harmonic chord drones of guitar and interloping keyboard/percussion flourishes merge like a thick serum. Surprisingly, the album's rich tones and sonic depth were captured primarily in the living room of a Southern Oregon home, with just a couple of good microphones and an ADAT recorder. The simple, ravaged sounds are equally as heavy and entrancing as any of the most behemoth riffs of Neurosis.
"I found myself delving into some deep personal shit that I shouldn't have brought up, but I did," says Kelly. "That's what I like about good country music, they'll just open up and let it out." That same unguarded method of unrestrained thoughts fills Spirit Bound Flesh with an eerie and intense immediacy that is rarely conveyed so freely. "Even though I didn't think that I could get more internal or personal than I have with Neurosis, I realized that there were certain things that I could delve into that I never had before," Kelly explains. "And, it's always been about finding a new place of freedom for us, as individuals and a group."
That quest for freedom is perhaps the abiding purpose behind Kelly's bold step away from the bombastic heft that fans expect from Neurosis. And, in so doing, Spirit Bound Flesh is a work as heavy, daring and raw as another classic work of thinking out loud -- Black Flag's My War. "Black Flag is one of my deepest influences in life," Kelly says, "and especially their brutally honest message of no message at all. Their music was always just talking about where they were, right at that moment."
The songs on Spirit Bound Flesh sound reminiscent of ancient European folk traditions that emphasize the voice as simultaneously a drone and melodic instrument. There are moments of stunning subtlety, with phantom instrumentation lurking in the shadows. On "Through My Existence," an acoustic guitar string rings out with undertones of piano chords seeming to echo underneath, although no piano was recorded. However, one of the album's most compelling moments is the stark and powerful a cappella track, "Sacred Heart" in which Kelly's rumbling baritone sounds earnest and proud. "There's definitely something to be said for your words to be right out in the front," Kelly explains. "In Neurosis, every word has been worked over to a fine point to say exactly what we want to say. But, when you pull it down to this kind of quiet, and your words are just riding on top, it just changes everything."
Like all works of subtlety and personal outpouring, the album continues to unfold the more one listens to it. But, no matter how many interpretations listeners may make, Spirit Bound Flesh is undeniably an expression of Kelly's innermost thoughts, portrayed with the same intensity and honesty as begun over 15 years ago with Neurosis' debut album, Pain of Mind. "There's much more at stake for me personally," Kelly says of his solo debut, "It's more personal, more straightforward; raw in sound quality and delivery. It's like back to square one for me."
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